With the sixth game of the football season having been played the Iowa High School Athletic Association has released its initial version of the Patings Percentage Index.

This is the second year of the RPI to determine playoff qualifiers among teams that do not win their district title.

Teams will receive RPI numbers ranging between .0000 and 1.000 (higher is better) through three criteria weighted at different percentages. Those are a team’s winning percentage, which counts for 37.5 percent, a team’s opponents’ composite winning percentage, which counts for 37.5 percent, and a team’s opponents’ opponents’ composite winning percentage, which counts for 25 percent. So, RPI = (.375 x WP) + (.375 x OWP) + (.250 x OOWP). Margin of victory or loss does not play in to the RPI.

Mt. Pleasant has a 5-1 record and is at No. 9 in the Class 3A RPI. Solon, at 6-0, is No. 3. The two teams play each other Friday in Mt. Pleasant. Washington is 4-2 and at No. 16. Ideally, the top 16 teams in the RPI make the playoffs, but some district champions are not in the top 16 of the RPI. There are nine districts in 3A so the top seven of non-district champions will qualify for the postseason.

Ft. Madison and Keokuk, both 4-2, are at Nos. 26 and 27 respectively.

New in 2019, only one champion will be named out of each district. Two-way ties are broken through head-to-head competition, but with any true three-way ties for district championships, the automatic qualifying spot as district champion will go to the team with the highest RPI. The other two teams will reenter the at-large field and may qualify for the playoffs through RPI.

In Class 2A, Mid-Prairie is at No. 36 with a 3-3 record. The only other teams in the Golden Hawks’ district that do not have a losing record are Williamsburg (3-3), which has an RPI of 25, and Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont (3-3), which is No. 35. Mid-Prairie plays at EBF Friday.

In 1A, Sigourney-Keota has the lowest RPI (15) of any unbeaten team and there are six teams with one loss with a higher RPI than the Cobras. SK has games remaining against Columbus (1-6), RPI of 49, Wapello (3-3), RPI of 30, and Mediapolis (5-1), RPI of 20.

Class A has a strong District 6 which sent three teams to the playoffs last year. This year’s leader is BGM (5-1), which has an RPI of No. 7. Belle Plaine (4-2) is 18 RPI, Cardinal (4-2) is 19 RPI and Highland (4-2) is 20 with Durant (3-3) at 22. Pekin, at 33, has the highest RPI of any team with two wins.

Class 8-man District 4 has last year’s state champion in New London (4-2) with its RPI at 26. District leader HLV (5-1) has its RPI at No. 8. Iowa Valley (4-2) is 17 and Montezuma (4-2) is 18. English Valleys (4-2) is 24. Lone Tree (3-3) is 27. WACO has the highest RPI of any team with two losses at 35. At 40 is Winfield-Mt. Union, which has the highest RPI of any one-win team. W-MU’s lone win is against an Illinois team (River Ridge) with a 5-1 record.